The Fear Series
by Kyizi
Summary: Jeff's fears trouble him before a big match and his actions have drastic consequences for everyone...
1. Fear is Only a Four Letter Word

Fear is Only a Four Letter Word ****

The Fear Series  
By Ky

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Disclaimer: As much as I wish Jeff Hardy belonged to me, he doesn't, same goes for all the other people in this fic...doesn't life just suck!

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Series: WWF

Spoilers: Everything up till just now! - 07/10/01 (Just to be safe)

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Rating: I'd say it'll be pretty mild. Probably PG or 12

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Pairing: Mwahahahahaha! Now that _would _be telling! ...to be honest, it won't be hard to guess! 

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Feedback: Is a wonderful thing...please be the wonderful people I know you all are!

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Email: jeff_hardyz_gal@hotmail.com 

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Notes: Well, my friends tell me I'm sad! Yes, I finally caved in and wrote a WWF fic, they said I'd hit rock bottom (I laughed but they don't watch wrestling so all I got was strange looks...)

I know this changes POV a lot, but I hope it's not too difficult to read. 

I hope you all enjoy my first attempt at WWF fic! 

*thoughts* are in *'s

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~x~x~x~x~x~

PART 1

FEAR IS ONLY A FOUR LETTER WORD

~x~x~x~x~x~

Jeff smiled as he entered the arena, placing a confident aura around him as he passed by the security guard, nodding his head as a hello. Backstage was quiet as he took to the halls, the metallic feel of the building yet to be made friendly with the banter and laughter that the WWF stars usually brought along with them. 

He was early. Not exactly something that happened very often. He could usually be found running in the door two minutes before the cameras started rolling. He liked to make an entrance. That was his excuse...the fact that he had trouble keeping track of time simply aided that. But not tonight. Tonight was one of the few nights he was early. Earlier even than the busy people that had to sort out the sound, lighting, camera equipment and everything else that had to be seen to before a show.

Sighing softly to himself, he entered his dressing room and quickly discarded his bag before walking out to the arena. It was eerie to see it this empty, the chairs stretched out before him in an echo of silence.

He pulled himself onto the top ropes and simply sat, staring at the small ring. Strange how it seemed smaller when it was empty than when it was filled with brawling wrestlers. He shivered as he thought of his upcoming brawl, he felt his stomach clenching and wished things were different. He wished he hadn't tortured himself by coming into the arena early, giving himself more time to wish he could back out.

He snorted at the thought. Jeff Hardy, so afraid of a stupid match that he wished he could back out. *Wouldn't that make the fans go wild* he thought sarcastically. But, no, no one ever knew and no one ever would. He would do what he always had in this instance. This was what made him who he was to the fans, what made him so special. He took risks, and risks he could handle. If only they could understand just how hard that was sometimes...He jumped as the overhead lights flashed on and off, signalling that he was no longer alone. It was time to get ready. 

Shaking himself, he stood and, once again, placed his confidence around him like a blanket. He jumped from the ropes, landing steadily on his feet and began to head back to the dressing room. As he reached the top of the ramp he turned, giving the empty arena one last glance.

"Remember," he whispered to himself. "Fear is only a four letter word." If only he could make his stomach believe him.

~x~x~x~x~x~

Lita sighed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She was running late. Typical, one of the nights she knew Jeff would be at the arena early and had planned to be there for him, she had to get caught in traffic. She waved to the security guard as she jogged past, winking at him. As always, Ted winked back and cocked his head to the side. They played this game every time she was in town, just as they always had throughout high school. The familiarity of it was nice to have in a job that had her travelling almost every night of the year.

She checked her watch again as she rounded the corner. *Damn* she was later than she had thought. She quickened her pace, only to find herself sprawled on the floor after connecting with something rather painfully.

"Well, well, well, looky here."

She groaned and rolled her eyes, "Here to play 'Lets make a fool of myself' again, are we Kanyon?" she said smiling disdainfully as she pulled herself to her feet.

"You can play coy all you want, Lita, we both know you want me." He reached out to help her, but she pulled away.

"In your dreams, Kanyon."

"Always."

She glared at him before taking off down the corridor. He yelled something after her, but she couldn't make out the words, she really didn't know what he was saying half the time, she just knew that it could never be good. 

She knocked on the locker room door before entering. She really didn't need to catch an eyeful of Terri Runnels again. *Ugh, I really didn't need to be reminded of that* she thought as she entered the ladies locker room. She glanced around, smiling at Lillian Garcia and Tori Wilson before dropping her stuff and heading to the Hardy's locker room.

*I hope Jeff's okay* she thought to herself, *He can try to hide it all he wants, but I can see it...I just wish he could see that I do*

~x~x~x~x~x~

Jeff was pacing. The movement back and forth was really quite hypnotizing when you watched him for long enough...

"Jeff! Stop it!" Matt snapped. His brother jumped and looked at him, startled and Matt instantly regretted being so harsh.

"Sorry." The younger muttered, "guess I'm a little on edge."

"I hadn't noticed." Matt said dryly before smiling, "look, you'll be fine. Just try not to do something stupid...okay, like that'll happen, just try not to kill yourself and we'll be fine."

"Especially with me at ringside." Both Hardy brothers turned to look at the bouncing redhead entering the room.

"Well, look who _finally _got here." Matt said, pulling her into a tight cuddle, "Thought we'd lost you."

"Tried to you mean," she smiled, kissing the tip of his nose. She pulled back, eyeing Jeff in her peripheral vision. *God, he looks so on edge* she thought, frowning. She quickly walked over to him and pulled him into a tight hug, which he readily accepted.

"What was that for?" he asked quietly as they pulled apart.

"For confidence." She replied softly, "You'll be fine out there."

He offered her a lopsided smile, "Promise?"

"Promise." She replied hugging him again. Matt smiled at them, exchanging a smile with Lita who was staring at him over Jeff's shoulder.

~x~x~x~x~x~

The crowd roared as their entrance music blared through the sound system and Jeff took a deep breath. He prepared to enter when he was startled by a squeeze to his hand. Turning to look at Lita, he ignored the tingling sensation her touch was giving him and squeezed back before following his brother out to the arena.

He played to the crowd, glancing at the redhead to his right from the corner of his eye. She had been watching him all night, not letting him allow his nerves to get the better of him, it was almost as if...no, she couldn't...but then she caught his eye and smiled reassuringly, before following her boyfriend down the ramp. And then it hit him.

*She knows*

~x~x~x~x~x~

"Come on, Jeff!" Lita pounded the matt, blocking out the screaming fans. Why the decided to chant her name when she wasn't even fighting, she'd never understand. Sure it was nice, but it was the guys that needed their support, not her.

She flinched as Jeff's head hit the mat having fallen victim to a running bulldog from her _"favourite person"_. Kanyon leered at her before returning to pound on Jeff. She hated this. They had known the odds were stacked against them from the start. And if she'd thought it would have made a difference, she'd have tried to talk the boys out of it, but she knew better, just like they knew better than to ask her to stay in the back...which they had tried anyway. 

She stepped back as Matt flew past her and she quickly ran past the announce table as the Dudley's double-teamed him. She hated this. It wasn't a match, it was a beating. And the Hardy's were on the receiving end. 

*Damn, Shane McMahon* she cursed. *Why? Why did he do it? TLC was one thing, but hardcore TLC, four on two was completely different.* She glanced into the ring breathing a sigh of relief as RVD missed a five star frog splash, although part of her wished he'd hit it and that it would finally be all over. She hated herself for thinking it, but she knew that the longer the match wore on, the worse things would get for Matt and Jeff. 

She edged away as the Dudley's brought Matt over to the announce table. *NO!* she thought, looking around wildly as they lay him down. *I can't take this much longer. Damn Matt and Jeff for accepting this match!*

She wandered over to Lillian Garcia, vaguely noting the look of concern as the pretty ring announcer watched the Dudley's prepare to 3D Matt into the announce table. She urged the smaller woman up and grabbed her chair, not allowing herself the luxury of second thought as she folded it and ran over to the Dudley's. 

*Please don't let this backfire* she prayed and swung the chair...

~x~x~x~x~x~

A sickening thud made it's way to his ears and he forced himself to stand. He had been able to low blow Kanyon and had dropped Van Damn on his face, so he had, oh, about 2 seconds to breathe before they recovered.

His eyes searched ringside for the familiar locks of red hair and he almost gasped when he finally found them. Lita was grasping onto a chair and D-Von Dudley was sprawled over the announce table. This wasn't good. Okay, so the latter part was good, but she'd got involved, and that meant only one thing...The Dudley's were likely to want revenge.

*Damn, why did she have to get involved. Why couldn't she have just stayed in the back like we asked?* Jeff brushed past a ladder as he moved towards her, watching as Buh-Buh Ray dropped Matt to the ground like a rag doll. He was going to go after her and Jeff couldn't let that happen. He would not let him hurt her. He watched as Lita began to run and he turned away. He eyed the double height ladder positioned at the side of the ring closest to the ramp. And then it came to him. Lita was headed in that direction, he could help her. 

He glanced at Kanyon, who was still rolling around clutching at his groin. He held back a smile, knowing that he had only a few seconds. His stomach clenched at the thought of what he was about to attempt. *Fear is only a four letter word* he repeated, hoping to gain some strength from it. Glancing at Van Damn, he frowned slightly before running to the ropes...

~x~x~x~x~x~

*Oh my God, he's going to catch me* that was all she could think as she ran towards the ramp. She was nearly there...she might make it. Some part of her noted that she was still clutching the chair and she quickly threw it behind her, hoping to slow the larger Dudley's progress. And that was when she saw him. He was running towards the ropes...up and on to the top rope...he was jumping...

*Oh God, Jeff, no...*

She watched in horror as Jeff landed unsteadily on the top of the 20ft ladder and she ran backwards, almost on instinct as it toppled towards her and landed on Buh-Buh Ray...taking Jeff with it.

~x~x~x~x~x~

Matt groaned and pulled himself to his feet. He'd heard the crowd's collective gasp and knew instinctively that something had happened to either Jeff or Lita...or Van Damn, they seemed to like him. Turning, he noticed D-Von slowly coming to on the ground next to him.

He frowned, *I should have gone through a table, the only way that wouldn't have happened...Lita!* he spun around a little too quickly and instantly regretted it. He could hear JR and Paul Heyman chattering in the background and wished he could get his head to stop spinning so that he might hear what they were saying.

He stumbled towards the ring, hoping that the height it would place him at would give him the leverage to see what was going on. He pulled himself up, and kicked Kanyon as the man struggled to his feet. 

*Where's Jeff?* he wondered. Standing up straight he looked towards Van Damn, noting the stunned look on the man's face and followed his gaze to the screen at the top of the ramp. 

*Replay* he noted. His eyes widened at what Jeff was doing, had done...and then he collapsed to his knees, his stomach churning wildly as he watched his little brother swaying on top of a falling 20 ft ladder. As the ladder hit the ground, Jeff fell on top, his head smacking off the side as he landed, his legs twisting in an awkward position and then everything went black.

~x~x~x~x~x~

Lita fell back, sitting as her hands connected with the metal ramp. The crowd was silent. Everyone was silent. And Jeff wasn't moving. 

She tried to move towards him, tried to sit up and walk over to him, check he was okay, but her body wouldn't listen to her. She could now hear Buh-Buh Ray groaning, trying to move the ladder from on top of him, only to stop at the sickening sight of Jeff sprawled on top of it, his blood seeping onto the larger man's chest.

She heard movement behind her, heard the familiar voice chanting "Oh God," but still she couldn't move. EMT's rushed past her, barely stopping to move round her. She watched as they tried to decide the best way to help Jeff, to help Buh-Buh and she wanted to scream at them to just do something, but she couldn't speak.

She felt Chris sit next to her, still chanting, his hockey shirt attempting to warm her as he wrapped his arms around her, but she still felt cold...that was all she felt. Nothing but empty and cold. 

A small part of her registered movement in the ring but all she could see was Jeff. All she could replay in her mind was Jeff falling from the top of the ladder. All she could hear was the sickening cracks from his body, the thud of his head hitting the metal, the gasp of the thousands of onlookers. All she could do was watch the EMT's place his limp body on a stretcher.

He'd done this to save her...he hadn't cared what happened to him, he'd done it for her, and now he could be dead. His voice rang through her head...

*Fear is only a four letter word*

*Well, fear might only be a four letter word,* she thought, *but Jeff was afraid of heights and now he could be dead* ...and that four letter word was her fear.

~x~x~x~x~x~

END OF PART 1

~x~x~x~x~x~

Please let me know what you think!

Ky  
~x~


	2. The Truth Hurts

The Fear Trilogy ****

The Fear Trilogy  
By Ky

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Disclaimer etc. in part 1

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Notes: This continues from "Fear is Only a Four Letter Word" and will not make any sense if you haven't read that first.

~x~x~x~x~x~

PART 2

THE TRUTH HURTS

~x~x~x~x~x~

Matt opened his eyes and groaned, clutching his stomach and head at the same time. After a few moments, everything came back to him and he turned to the side, throwing up on the floor beside his bed. 

"Easy man," the voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it. Nothing made sense, Jeff was fine, Jeff was always falling off ladders, that was what he did, what he liked to do, to stun the crowd. He was acting, that was why he was lying on the ground...his legs twisted...his head smacking off...he threw up again.

Matt closed his eyes as tears began to fall. He lay his head back onto the pillow of what he had deduced was a hospital bed, vaguely aware that someone, probably a nurse, was already cleaning up the mess he'd just made.

"Jeff..." he whispered hoarsely.

"He's in surgery...they're resetting his legs."

Matt turned to face the other side of the bed and found himself looking at Lillian Garcia. Her face was tearstained and her hands were shaking. She took a shaky breath and tried to smile reassuringly at him, instead barely managing a watery grimace. A hand was suddenly placed onto her shaking shoulder and it was then that Matt realised that they were not alone, that the first voice he had heard hadn't been Lillian's.

"How is he...really...don't, don't lie. No sugar coating it. I want to know." His voice was low but strangely confident, forceful even.

"It's bad." Van Damn started tightening his grip on Lillian's shoulder as the words coaxed a sob from her. "Both his legs were broken, they think he might have broken a bone in his spine and..." he trailed off as Matt closed his eyes, no longer able to see through the tears.

"And what?" he asked, his voice sounding more ragged than he would have thought. But he didn't care. All he could think of was Jeff...his baby brother... "And what?"

"He hasn't woken up yet, so he may have a concussion or be in a coma...in which case...he may not wake up at all."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Chris glanced around the waiting room, watching the strange group of people gathered together. Everyone was silent and, for this group, that certainly was more that strange, it was downright unheard of.

After the show had...so abruptly ended, he had gone with Lita in the ambulance, never letting go of the redhead. He'd never thought he'd see the day when he'd think of the "Lovely Lita" as fragile. But he had never seen anyone look so broken in his entire life...and he hoped he never would again.

He hadn't known what to say to her. That almost made him laugh, but laughter wasn't something that was going to come easy to any of them for a while. But he, Chris Jericho, had, for once in his life been speechless.

He glanced around the room again. D-Von had left and was now at his brother's side, along with Spike. Strange how something like this could bring them back together...even if it may not last. Watching Matt's reaction, watching Jeff's...fall, seemed to have made everyone realise just how important their family was. Even Stephanie and Shane had approached their father as he had arrived at the hospital and Vince had instantly pulled Stephanie into his arms before doing the same to Shane.

It was strange. And yet, it wasn't.

And then there was Lita. She still hadn't said anything, hadn't moved of her own accord. Just sat there opposite him, her eyes staring downward, unseeing. He knew that Lillian and Rob Van Damn had gone to see Matt, but Lita just sat there. And he knew why...he knew everything, and that's why it didn't matter that he didn't know what to say. Because there was nothing he could say.

~x~x~x~x~x~

She was numb. 

Nothing worked and she didn't care.

All she had was her memories.

All she could think of was that they had lied to him.

And he might never know the truth.

~x~x~x~x~x~

Stephanie watched the occupants of the room. Watched as Edge rubbed at his temples and tried to hold back the tears. That was something that most people were attempting. Even the alliance members. Even her. 

She remembered a time when what happened on screen didn't matter off screen. But soon everything had become real. All the fights. All the divisions and groups. All the hatred. She couldn't even remember when it had happened. She remembered her friendly chat with the Undertaker right before the "kidnapping". She remembered arranging her "marriage" with her father, HHH and Test. She remembered when Chris used to apologise for the things he said to her. She remembered when she used to be friends with Team Xtreme.

It all seemed so long ago. It seemed like a dream, and what had happened tonight? She _wished _that was a dream. This alliance thing had gone on for too long. And she was fed up of being a member of the "Stone Cold" fan club. Doing whatever the Texas Rattlesnake ordered...even getting her breast implants. *Sure, Austin, no one noticed that one...*

She glanced across the room again, her eye catching Jericho's and she knew what he was thinking. She didn't know how she knew, but she did. It was the same thing that had been on her mind for a few weeks now. Everything was wrong and as horrible as this all was, she knew that everyone could pull together. That everything could be made right again. She knew it. She'd make sure of it, or she'd damn well try her hardest.

~x~x~x~x~x~

She watched as the machine continued to beep, her eyes following the bright trace of the oscilloscope as it drew Jeff's heart. That's what it was. His heart. This little machine and it's bright green line were drawing out Jeff's heart...but she couldn't read it. She wanted to read it so much. But she couldn't understand why he wouldn't wake up. Wouldn't understand. She didn't want to.

She needed him. Didn't he understand that? Couldn't he come back so that she could make him understand that? She wanted to hold him in her arms and talk to him. To tell him the truth. To explain everything that they'd kept from him for all this time. To try and make him understand the lie.

All she wanted was to rewind the night. To go back and talk them out of the match. Or to let them talk her out of being there. It was her fault. He'd done this to save her and if she hadn't been there then he'd be okay. He might have taken a beating, but four on two was better then lying half dead in a hospital bed because of her.

All she wanted was to tell him. To take it all back. To stop the lie. She wanted to hold him in her arms and make love to him. To tell him that she loved him and that she always had. But she couldn't. So she did all she could do. Lita lay her head on the bed and wept.

~x~x~x~x~x~

Matt sat up and pulled the sheets from on top of him, careful not to wake Lillian who was sleeping peacefully with her head on his bed, and prepared to stand. He had to see his brother.

"Let me help you." 

Matt looked up as Rob Van Damn walked in the door and helped him to stand. He had left about an hour earlier, just slipped out as Lillian was holding Matt, both of them crying. And Matt realised that he still didn't know why the man was there.

"Why are you doing this?" 

At the soft spoken words, Rob looked Matt in the eye before turning to gaze at the ground, "Because it's my fault." He said, speaking so quietly, that Matt almost didn't hear him.

"What?"

"I saw what he was about to do and I let him. I knew Jeff was crazy and I knew things he did had a tendency to backfire where ladders were involved...I should have stopped him."

"Then why didn't you?" Matt asked. But he was more interested in the reply than insinuating anything. He knew his brother and he also knew that this was not RVD's fault. But he needed to know why the man thought it was.

"Because I hoped he'd pull it off. I hoped he'd land on Buh-Buh Ray and that he'd save Lita."

"Why?"

"Because I knew from the start that the match was unfair. I almost said no, but then I knew someone else would only take my place..."

"So you did it to help us?"

"I guess so."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to...and Stephanie asked me to."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Everything hurt. That was the first thing that entered his mind. A blinding light made it's way into the crack of his eyelids and he instantly closed them, clenching them shut, only to realise that that hurt as well. 

He replayed that last thing he remembered over in his head. Lita. The last thing he had seen was the horrified look in her eye. He'd jumped onto the ladder...and fallen off. He remembered that. Remembered the pain. Remembered that it was worth it to save Lita.

He groaned as another shot of pain ebbed through his body. He had to do an inventory. It was Hardy custom...make sure everything's still there.

Legs...check...they're there and they hurt like hell...at least I hope they're there otherwise I've got some weird phantom leg thing going on.

Head...check...is in the process of exploding.

Arms...check...can move the left one, right one seems to be stuck.

He turned his head to the right and slowly allowed the blinding light to cut into his eyes. After a few moments, his eyes saw the problem. His arm was pinned to the bed as it was currently being used as a pillow for a very beautiful redhead. 

Jeff smiled a little, then stopped...it hurt too much. He took in Lita's appearance. She looked like hell. To him, she was beautiful no matter what, but he could see the tear stains on her face, the remnants of her makeup blotched on her cheeks, and even in her sleep she was still shaking.

He moved his left arm over, with a great degree of pain, and wiped her tearstains, only to hiss in pain as she shot up calling out his name. Her eyes focussed on him and widened.

"Jeff?" she repeated.

"I'm here, can't get rid of me that easily."

"Oh God, Jeff, don't you ever do that to me again!" she cried leaning forward to hug him as best she could, and this time, he didn't care about the pain.

After a few moments she pulled back, "I have so much to tell you...I have to tell you..."

"Lita, calm down." He reached a hand to her cheeks, brushing away fresh tears. "You have time to tell me anything. But first, I think this nurse might want to tell me something."

He watched as Lita turned to see the rather sombre looking nurse standing in the doorway and he couldn't stop the thumping of his heart as bad thoughts echoed in his mind.

"Jeff!" Looking beyond the nurse, he spotted his brother being helped by RVD...no, wait a minute...yes, being helped by RVD. The two men made their way to the bed and Lita stood, hugging Matt before he leaned in to hug his brother and Jeff had to wonder if Lita had even seen Matt since she'd arrived at the hospital.

*Of course she has. She's his girlfriend...not yours...*

A few moments later, Chris had arrived with Stephanie and Jeff had had to do another double take at that one, but hadn't been given the time to ponder it as the nurse continued to stare at him. Chris had hugged him and was repeating how glad he was that the younger man was awake, but Jeff, Lita and Matt still stared at the nurse.

"We should leave," Stephanie said, pulling Chris and Rob to the door. She gave Jeff a small smile, "I'm glad you're awake." 

"Me too." Rob said softly before Chris waved at him and closed the door.

"Okay, what is it?" Jeff asked, pulling Lita to sit at his right hand side, clutching her hand in the same way Matt was at the other.

"The doctor will be arriving in a moment."

"But you know something, and I want to know what that is." Jeff continued to urge him.

"I'm afraid it's not good, Mr. Hardy." The nurse said as he stepped closer to them, "You'd best prepare yourself for bad news."

~x~x~x~x~x~

END OF PART 2

~x~x~x~x~x~

*ducks all flying objects* sorry, had to leave it there!

Ky  
~x~


	3. The Beginning of the End

The Beginning of the End ****

The Fear Trilogy  
by Ky

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Disclaimer: They're mine I tell you! ALL MINE!!!! Mwahahahahahahahahaha! (note to all lawyers: this is sarcasm...look it up...i.e. I own nothing, 'k?)

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Rating: PG or 12

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Series: WWF

Spoilers: Everything up till around 07/10/01 (Just to be safe)

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Pairing: Mwahahahahaha! Now that _would _be telling! ...to be honest, it won't be hard to guess! 

****

Feedback: Is a wonderful thing...please be the wonderful people I know you all are!

****

Email: jeff_hardyz_gal@hotmail.com 

****

Notes: This continues from "The Truth Hurts" which continues from "Fear is Only a Four Letter Word" and will not make any sense if you haven't read those first. 

I've decided that the show they were doing in the first part was actually "No Mercy"

I'd also like to point out that I had this written before RAW and Smackdown the past week, so the thing with the Hurricane and Kane was already there! I swear it! I did, however, add in the comment about Regal _after_.

~x~x~x~x~x~

PART 3

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

~x~x~x~x~x~

*"You'll be fine out there."

He offered her a lopsided smile, "Promise?"

"Promise." She replied hugging him again.*

Lita gasped as she sat up, her dreams echoing through her mind. She'd promised him he'd be fine...promised that with her there, everything would be all right, and _*she*_ had been the cause of his injury...she was the reason he was here.

She blinked back tears as she turned to the bed, finding his eyes on her. He was awake. No doubt, also, her fault.

"I'm sorry," She whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"I was already awake," he replied, smiling at her slightly. "What's wrong?" 

"I...I..." 

"Lita, what's wrong."

She choked back a sob as he pulled her up to sit on his bed, "I told you you'd be all right. I _*promised* _you, and then _*I*_ made you end up here..."

"Lita, listen to me," he tilted her face to look at him, and she noticed that he was straining to sit up.

"Jeff, lie down," she whispered, no longer attempting to stop her tears. "Please."

He complied, but refused to let go of her hands, "Listen to me, what I did out there was _*my*_ decision, okay. It was not your fault, none of it was your fault. We knew what we were getting into, we knew it was a four on two situation and, yeah, we probably should have listened to you. But hey," he smirked. "We Hardy's are not exactly known for using our common sense. We chose the opportunity to give the crowd a good match." He smiled sadly. "Lita, I made the decision to jump onto that ladder, not you."

"Why did you do it, Jeff?" she watched as he turned his head to stare at the wall, "You always did as McMahon wanted and stunned the crowd by jumping off things. But this was your choice. Why did you do it. I know you, Jeff, you're terrified of heights, why?"

He turned to look at her once more, "So you did know." She nodded. "You never said anything,"

"It wasn't my place to say anything. Matt said you were afraid when you were younger but you told him everything was cool now. It wasn't my place to say anything different."

Jeff smiled, "Yeah, well, do you honestly think my big brother would let me do half that stuff knowing I was terrified most of the time?"

"You're lucky he lets you do it anyway." Came a voice from the doorway. "Why didn't you tell me, Jeff?"

"Matt," Jeff closed his eyes as his brother walked over to them. "Because I knew you'd stop me."

Matt snorted, "Jeff, I tried to stop you even not knowing, did you ever listen?"

"I guess not." He stifled a yawn and Matt and Lita exchanged glances.

"We should leave you to get some rest. You need all you can get." The elder Hardy said sadly. Reaching out, he pulled Lita to her feet and Jeff smiled sadly at their retreating forms.

~x~x~x~x~x~

"Did you tell him?" Matt asked, gazing intently at the ajar door, watching as Jeff struggled to find a comfortable position.

"I couldn't. How could I tell him that before the operation. How could I let him know..."

"Shh, honey, it's okay." Matt pulled her into his arms and held her tightly as she finally allowed herself cry openly. "It's okay, sweetie, we'll tell him together. Tomorrow. He deserves that much."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Jeff tried to stretch, moaning as his legs moved slightly. *Damn, but that hurts like a bitch* he groaned and picked up the remote control. It was almost time for RAW and he had to watch. The sooner he got back into the swing of things the better. He had always watched when he was absent, always. He wouldn't stop now. He refused to allow himself to think of the operation he had ahead. He snorted, typical that the one thing that could have killed him, might have saved his life. If he hadn't needed that CAT scan they might not have found the tumour in time.

The tumour...he had a brain tumour. The thought sent chills down his spine. He couldn't believe it and the looks on Matt and Lita's faces had shown that he wasn't the only one. He'd shouted and called the doctors anything he could think of to make them do the scan again...to make it all be wrong. But they weren't. He had a brain tumour and he had to have it removed....he had to or he could die. Hell, he might die either way. 

He brushed away a tear, knowing things would feel better when his mother arrived. Yeah, so he still needed his mom to give him a hug to make him feel like everything was okay. If that made him a mommy's boy, a sap, right now, he could care less. 

He sighed and turned back to the TV. He only hoped they didn't show too many replays of his fall. He wasn't sure he could take that.

"Knock, knock. Mind if I join you?"   
  
Jeff turned to the door, looking rather startled, "er...yeah, sure." The man nodded and entered the room, staring up at the screen as he took his seat. 

"Hasn't started yet, then?"

"No." The room went silent for a moment, neither man sure what to say. "So...er...how are you?"

"Well, a ladder and an insane Hardy dropped me on my ass, how do you think I'm doing?" Buh-Buh replied with a smirk and Jeff smiled back. "Seriously? Few bruised ribs and a broken nose...and a twisted ankle, hence the crutches...and a sore arm, bit of a concussion last night..."

"Okay, I get the point." Jeff stopped him and turned back to the TV. Buh-Buh didn't ask him the same question and Jeff knew that someone must have told him. He was only thankful the Dudley wasn't sending him pity glances. After a few moments, he continued, "I'm sorry...but I wasn't about to let you hurt Lita."

"Do you honestly think I'd hurt, Red?" the Dudley asked and Jeff could hear that he was hurt by the insinuation. He also noted fondly, the endearment that he himself had started amongst their friends...friends, now that was something he missed.

"Honestly?" he turned to face the larger man. "I don't know anything any more. This alliance thing has screwed everything up. It all became real and I don't know anymore."

"Well, that makes two of us. I know Stephanie has something planned, but, unfortunately, so does Heyman."

"Well, did you warn her?" Jeff asked, alarmed.

"Where do you think D-Von and Spike are headed, right now."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Spike clutched the edge of his seat harder. Sure, he had missed his brothers, and he was glad they seemed to be making a start at sorting everything out. However, one thing he had not missed was D-Von's driving. He inhaled sharply as they swerved around another corner. 

He looked ahead, longing to see the large building that housed most of the WWF superstars, minus his other brother and Jeff Hardy. He knew that Jeff had insisted (almost to the point of having Security remove them) that Lita and Matt appear for their match tonight against Stacey and Polumbo. So that meant that only he and D-Von had yet to arrive...and he only hoped they arrived in time...for Stephanie's sake

~x~x~x~x~x~

"Hello everyone, I'm joined here tonight by Michael Cole, in the absence of Paul Heyman, who appears to be in conference with Stone Cold Steve Austin."

"Hey JR. Well, tonight's matches seem to be a little rusty. We know that Matt and Lita are scheduled to face Stacy Keebler and Chuck Polumbo. We also know that The Dudley's were all set to face the APA tonight. However, due to last night's events, we can't really be sure of anything."

"I agree, Michael. Things are definitely up in the air."

"For those of you that were unable to join us last night, let me fill you in. It all happened during the triple threat tag team match for the WWF titles."

"Triple threat? It was four on two Michael, plain and simple. Whatever allowed the Commissioner to make this match, I don't know, but I'm sure he's having a hard time living with that decision."

"I'm sure he is, JR. Well, here you can see Lita trying to help her boyfriend, Matt Hardy. However, Buh-Buh Ray Dudley doesn't seem to take that very well. He chased Lita to the ramp and here, if we can get the film, yes, here you can see, Jeff Hardy knows what's happening and...well, he tried to help her. We promise to continue to update you on Jeff and Buh-Buh Ray's conditions. Both men's brothers will make statements later on tonight. What makes me wonder though, JR, is RVD. He had fully recovered and did nothing, He didn't attack Jeff, instead, he let the younger Hardy save Lita. Why do you think that is?" 

"I have no idea, Michael. But I believe Stephanie is on her way to ringside, so perhaps we'll find out soon enough."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Jeff cringed at the audible gasp running through the crowd. They had shown the replay three times, directly after each other, as if somehow under the impression that different camera angles would change something. He felt pain echoing through his legs as he watched them twisting violently on the screen. 

He hadn't noticed the silence before. Granted, as he was falling, he wasn't exactly paying much attention to the crowd, but now, seeing the replay (again) he felt a chill run down his spine. The collective hush that had overtaken the crowd was eerie. 

"Damn, you really are insane."

Jeff turned to Buh-Buh, who was still staring at the screen in shear horror, "I guess it does look bad."

"You guess? My God, you're insane, you could have killed yourself!"

"I know," he said softly. "But I wasn't going to let you hurt her...and I had no way of knowing that you had no intention of doing that."

"My God...does Matt know?"

Jeff frowned and turned to face the man, "Does Matt know what?" 

"Does he know that you're completely and utterly in love with his girlfriend?"

~x~x~x~x~x~

Stephanie took a deep breath, steadying herself as she waited for the opening strands of her "husband's" old music. She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder and turned to give RVD a smile. He was walking out with her, he'd make sure that everything went according to plan...she knew it.

Suddenly the music started and she took another breath, stepping onto the ramp. It was time. Unfortunately, she didn't hear her name being called before Spike and D-Von were pulled into a room.

~x~x~x~x~x~

Jeff watched the screen, trying not to think about the bad news he'd received...trying not to think about what Buh-Buh had just said about him being in love with Lita. Suddenly he heard Stephanie's music and both he and Buh-Buh sat up straighter, both hissing in pain at the act.

"Man, we make a pitiful pair," Buh-Buh laughed.

"Speak for yourself." Jeff grinned, before sobering up. "I hope your brothers got to her in time."

"You and me both."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Stephanie picked up the microphone, trying to ignore the "slut" chants echoing around her. It seemed that even though the younger Hardy and Buh-Buh Ray were seriously injured, the crowd knew just how to make her feel worse. 

*You brought this on yourself, McMahon* she thought *You'll just have to live with it. Right now it's time to make things right for everyone else*

"I guess you're all wondering why I'm out here." She knew they were expecting her to play to them, to say it was because she was wonderful and could do whatever the hell she wanted...but she didn't. "By now you all know what happened last night at No Mercy and I'm sure I know how you feel. Because it makes me sick." She spat out the last word facing the ramp.

"Yeah, I know you all expect me to have some ulterior motive for saying that. That I'm about to lapse into some Alliance mind frame, but I'm not. I watched Jeff Hardy, someone I'd once thought of as a good friend almost kill himself just to save Lita. And why did he have to do that? Because of the Alliance. Because somewhere along the line, everything got more serious than ever before. We've had tragedy in the WWF before and I'm sure you all remember what that was like. Jeff may get through this, but we need to stop this before someone else gets hurt...someone who may not recover.

"I've had a plan in action for a week or so now. You may have noticed Rob, not _*helping*_ as such, but not doing anything to stop what happened either last night, or in his last few matches. That's because I decided a few weeks ago that this had to stop, now, I'm making sure that it does. It's time to disband the "Stone Cold Steve Austin" fan club."

Stephanie paused at the uproar of the crowd, smiling as they cheered and yelled at her. She'd forgotten what that felt like, the thrill of having hundreds of people cheering you.

She continued, "I know Shane may not be on my side, in fact, if Heyman and Austin have anything to do with it, he'll be dead against it. But I'm asking all Alliance members to make a stand. To come out to the ring and agree to put a stop to this. I'm asking you to join the ECW/WWF Alliance."

Suddenly the opening strands of "No Chance" awoke the speakers and after a few moments a voice rumbled around them, "Wow, that was some speech, Stephanie." Vince's face loomed over his daughter from the large screen.

"Thanks, daddy."

Vince smiled, "I made this recording for one reason, and that is simply to assure all members of the _*Old* _Alliance that should they choose to side with Stephanie, they will have jobs with us. This isn't just one of my daughter's hair brained plans, this is a decision that we've had in the works for a while. I'd also like to send my best wishes to Jeff Hardy and Buh-Buh Ray Dudley."

As Vince's face faded from the screen, the crowd began to mumble amongst themselves until finally Rhyno's music blared throughout the auditorium. Stephanie stared at the ramp as the Man Beast made his way down to the ring, closely followed by Chuck Polumbo, The Hurricane, Sean Stasiac, Kanyon and Mike Awesome.

The strange collection of men made their way into the ring and stopped directly in front of Stephanie. She was ill at ease as they stared her down, unsure of whether they were here to support her decision or to beat the crap out of her for turning her back on the Alliance.

Rhyno grabbed her microphone and Stephanie couldn't help but jump a little, "We're in."

~x~x~x~x~x~

"All right!" Jeff attempted to punch the air before groaning in pain.

"Easy there, tiger." Buh-Buh teased and the younger Hardy glared at him.

Jeff watched as each of the men took the microphone and explained their reason for leaving the, newly dubbed, "Stone Cold" fan club. As the Hurricane explained that "Mighty Molly" had decided to stay with that "Dastardly villain, The Storm", he vaguely wondered what The Hurricane would say if he ever became stupid enough to challenge the brothers of destruction, besides Citizen Kane...he laughed then instantly regretted it. Man, he needed to get out more.

"Oh, crap!" 

At Buh-Buh's curse, Jeff looked up at the screen again, watching as Shane, Austin, Heyman and the rest of the Old Alliance made their way to ringside...with none other than HHH.

~x~x~x~x~x~

END OF PART 3

~x~x~x~x~x~

I had planned for this to be a Trilogy...oh, well, my plans rarely go as...well, planned! I'm working on the final part now, and yes, you'll finally get to find out the "secret" that Lita has is! ...promise! ;)

Ky

~x~


	4. It's True, It's Damn True

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The Fear Series  
By Ky

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Disclaimer: Nope, not mine...*sob*

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Rating: PG or 12

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Series: WWF

Spoilers: Everything up till around 07/10/01 (Just to be safe)

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Pairing: Mwahahahahaha! Now that _would _be telling! ...to be honest, it won't be hard to guess! 

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Feedback: Is a wonderful thing...please be the wonderful people I know you all are!

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Email: jeff_hardyz_gal@hotmail.com 

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Notes: This continues from "The Beginning of the End" which continues from "The Truth Hurts" and "Fear is Only a Four Letter Word" and will not make any sense if you haven't read those first. 

I've decided that the show they were doing in the first part was actually "No Mercy"

~x~x~x~x~x~

PART 4

IT'S TRUE, IT'S DAMN TRUE

~x~x~x~x~x~

Stephanie felt like she was about to faint. This couldn't be happening to her. Not Triple H, he was her friend...he was on her side...he was the one that had made her finally decide to talk to her father about this whole mess. And now he had joined Shane, Austin and Heyman?

No. There had to be another reason. There had to be.

"Well, well, well. It seems that the Billion Dollar Princess has finally turned her back on us. What? What's wrong Stephanie, you done every available guy in the Alliance? What? Needed some new..."meat"?" Austin sneered as RVD, Rhyno and the others stood protectively next to their boss and glared at him. "What's the matter, Steph. Shocked to see your _*husband*_ saw the light? Shocked that he knows what a two bit whore you are?"

Stephanie flinched. It didn't matter how many times Chris had said those words to her, and worse, this hurt more. Austin actually meant what he was saying. Even when Chris stopped apologising for his words, even when this all began to become real life, she always knew he _*never*_ thought the things he said were true. Never.

"So, what? You think that by showing me that HHH has betrayed me," Steph said the words as she attempted to look Hunter in the eye, but he averted his gaze. "that I'll stop? That I'll suddenly go back on my word? Think again Austin. Nothing you say or do matters to me anymore. I've made my decision and so have these people. You number is up."

Suddenly she fell to the ground clutching her head and one thought struck her. The person who hit her had been behind her...had been one of the men to come down to the ring to join her. This was a set up.

~x~x~x~x~x~

"No!" Both men sat up straight, this time heedless of the pain reverberating through their chests. This couldn't be happening, not now when they were so close.

"They didn't get to her." Buh-Buh said softly, "Spike and D-Von didn't warn her."

"This can't be happening." The two men sat back, defeated, as they watched the fight erupting on the screen...watched as Kanyon and Stasiac helped Austin and the Alliance.

"Wait, what's Triple H doing?" 

"Buh-Buh, Isn't that your brothers in the crowd?"

"What the _*hell*_ is going on?"

~x~x~x~x~x~

"This is insane, JR!"

"I have to agree with you, Michael. People are coming from everywhere! The Dudley Boyz, and by that I mean Spike and D-Von, have just come from the crowd, as has Edge in the style he introduced himself to us. The Rock and Kurt Angle have just blasted their way down the ramp..."

"And made a beeline straight for Booker T and Austin. HHH is currently beating up on _*Shane and Heyman*_"

"Can't say I'm sorry about that. Those SOB's have had it coming for a while. And wait, what is...yes! Jericho and the APA are leading the rest of the WWF superstars out to ringside. This is an all out brawl Michael!"

"And the Alliance are winning...the _*NEW*_ WWF/ECW Alliance, that is."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Stephanie clutched her head and groaned as she clutched tighter to the man currently carrying her. His hair brushed against her and she smiled. She had looked up to find Hunter beating up on her brother and Paul Heyman and then she realised why he wouldn't meet her eye...she'd have known he was lying.

She snuggled deeper into his embrace and smiled against his chest. He hadn't betrayed her...and not only that, but the WWF seemed to support this new alliance...Chris seemed to support it. The man reached the EMT's and lay her onto the bed.

"Easy now, just lay still."

Stephanie's head shot up and she gazed into his eyes, "Chris?"

He smiled at her, "You'll be fine. Just took a bit of a knock when that idiot, Kanyon, hit you."

"You saved me?" at this his grin grew wider and she smiled, "You saved me."

"Yeah, well, what can I say, Austin pissed me off." He brushed a strand of her hair from her face, "Only I get to call you a two bit whore."

She smacked his arm and mock glared at him, "Not funny."

Chris' face grew serious, "You know I don't mean it, right?"

"I know." She hissed as the EMT placed ice against her head then looked back up at Chris, "But it's nice to hear you say it...sometimes, I forget." He went to move and help Tajiri with Torrie when she placed a hand on his arm, "Thank you for helping me."

He smiled, "Anytime, Princess, anytime."

~x~x~x~x~x~

Lita took a deep breath before turning on her heel...only to walk into Matt. He smiled sadly at her.

"No backing out. Not this time, we've been doing that for too long. He deserves the truth, Lita."

"I know he does, but that doesn't make it any easier...it's been so long. Why did we do it, Matt?"

"Because we thought it would work." He squeezed her arm, "Come on."

Slowly they turned and entered Jeff's room, smiling as they saw him and Buh-Buh shouting at each other over their cards. It was just like old times. Both were cheating and calling the other on it.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Red." Buh-Buh turned, "You want to tell Mr. Hardy here, to stop cheating?"

Lita smiled at the familiar endearment, glad to finally hear it again from the somewhat cuddly wrestler, "I'd do that, but then you'd have the unfair advantage with your cheating."

"Why, I think the Lita Lady is insulting me."

"Damn right she is." The group turned to see D-Von and Spike standing in the doorway. "Hey. Doc wants you back in bed bro."

"Okay, I'll whip your ass later Hardy."

"In your dreams, man."

"Trust me rainbow head, you are _*never* _in my dreams...Red however..." Lita smacked him playfully on the arm as he hobbled to his brothers, giving Jeff the "Stone Cold Salute" as he left.

"So, tonight went well." Jeff said happily as they sat at either side of his bed. "You two and Polumbo certainly gave Stacey, Stasiac and Kanyon a whipping."

"Oh yeah." Matt agreed, still distracted at what they were about to tell him. He exchanged a glance with Lita and took a deep breath.

"What? What's wrong? Have the doctors..."

"No, God, no!" Matt said emphatically, cursing himself for worrying his brother even more about his health. "It's nothing like that."

"We...we just need to tell you something. Something we should have told you a long time ago."

Jeff frowned as he looked at them. He turned to Lita, meeting her watery gaze, "Is it something to do with what you were saying when I woke up?"

"Yes."

There was silence as both Lita and Matt stared at their hands, at anything but him, "Well? Either one of you planning to tell me before they knock me out and cut me up?"

They both flinched at his crude words before they exchanged a glance. Matt opened his mouth to speak, but Lita interrupted him, "No, let me...please?" At Matt's nod, she turned to Jeff and took a deep breath.

"Why do I feel like I'm really not going to like what you're about to say?"

"Because you probably won't. Jeff, we've been lying to you."

"Lying to me? How?"

"Please...don't interrupt me, this is really hard for me to do." The younger Hardy nodded, "Do, do you remember when we used to tease Matt about his crush on Lillian? We used to try and get him to do something about it? Well, we did...only it wasn't just for Matt, it was for me as well." Lita began to ramble, "We didn't want to lie to you Jeff, we weren't even sure we should do it at all. We were just so fed up of waiting and we really got on well and we thought that after a week or so, we'd tell you both the truth, we'd make you jealous and then we..."

"Are you saying that you were never dating?" Jeff asked incredulously.

"Exactly," Matt said looking at Lita before turning back to Jeff, "We only wanted to have some fun together...we wanted, I wanted to see Lillian's reaction, I wanted to know if maybe you and Lita were right and she'd liked me all along."

"And you couldn't just ask me?"

Matt whirled round to look at the door. Lillian was staring at them in disbelief, "You made me watch the two of you together for _*months*_ so you could see my reaction?"

"It wasn't like that," Matt stood up. "We...we were only supposed to pretend for that one night, a week at most. And then you started dating that guy, Adam, and we decided to keep pretending until we'd seen Jeff's reaction...and by the time you split up, it had got out of hand. We tried to tell you both so many times, but we couldn't. The longer we left it, the harder it got."

"I can't hear this, right now." Lillian turned and ran from the room.

"Lillian!" Matt turned to Lita who nodded, before running after the blond ring announcer.

"I still don't get it." Lita looked at Jeff, "I don't understand why you'd lie to me."

Lita wiped the fresh tears from her cheeks, "I lied because I didn't have the guts to tell you the truth."

"What, what did Matt mean by, 'you wanted to see my reaction'?"

"He meant, he..."

"Lita, what did he mean?" Jeff grabbed hold of her arms and shook her slightly.

"He meant that we wanted to see if maybe you felt the same way about me as I do about you."

Jeff felt his hands begin to shake slightly, but his grip remained on her arms, "And how is that?"

"I...I'm in love with you."

~x~x~x~x~x~

He finished packing his gear into his bag and looked up, pausing as he noticed who was standing at the door. The man gave him a small smile and came inside the room a little. Chris turned to look at the only other man left in the dressing room, just as he looked up and saw his brother. 

Chris watched Edge frown as Christian shuffled on his feet. The younger man rubbed his palms against his jeans before allowing his bag to fall to the ground.

"They wanted me to turn to the Alliance. The Commissioner is in on it,"

"What?" Both Chris and Edge looked at each other before turning back to face Christian, "Have you told McMahon?"

"He knew,"

"I don't understand," Edge frowned and Jericho shook his head to indicate he was as confused as Edge was. "What's going on Christian?"

"Hey man," All three turned as X-Pac came into the room as well. "I figure I should help you a little with the explanation."

"Okay, what the hell's going on?" Y2J asked, noting that the Undertaker and the APA had passed by, each giving Christian and X-Pac a nod.

"Remember Invasion?" X-Pac asked and both men raised their eyebrows. "Okay, stupid question. Well, McMahon decided to use that for him. When the crowd didn't support me any more than usual...in other words when they still yelled "X-Pac sucks" at me. The old man decided he could use me. He suspected there were more people in the WWF involved with the Alliance and he knew that if I was playing the bad guy, they'd be more likely to look me up."

"But he didn't want him to do it alone," Christian said, looking at his brother. "That was where I came in. Vince knew that no one would believe that any of the larger stars would turn on the WWF. He was going to ask the Rock to do it, but he knew we needed someone to "raise spirits" if you will. So he approached me."

"Wait a minute," Edge stepped towards his brother a little. "You mean you turned on me because McMahon asked you to?"

"I turned on you," Christian choked out the words. "because I knew that if they didn't have someone to help them then we'd both be out of a job."

"You never really wanted to be a wrestler anyway," Edge said, frowning. "That's why I never understood your need for gold. I never understood why you'd turn on me for a title."

"Edge, I never wanted the gold. I just wanted to keep our jobs."

Neither brother noticed as X-Pac and Y2J slipped from the room and began to walk towards the exit, "He did it for Edge, didn't he?" Chris asked when they were far enough from the room.

"Yeah, the only thing Edge had ever wanted was to be a wrestler and if the Alliance took over, he'd loose everything he'd worked for. So Christian jumped at the chance to put a stop to it...even if it meant hurting his brother."

"What about you?"

X-Pac laughed, but Chris could see the pain in his eyes, "I only played the part the crowd laid out for me." 

Chris watched as he walked away, "Hey, X-Pac," The man turned. "For what it's worth, we all thought the crowd were rough on you at Invasion. You should have been cheered, man, for the WWF."

"Yeah, well, that's the way it goes. And Chris, thanks. See you Thursday."

Chris nodded and made a move to leave when he heard voices in the room next to him. Peering through the door, he watched as Stephanie rubbed the back of her head. She was laughing at something Hunter was saying, the two of them catching up on what exactly had happened out there tonight. He watched the way she tugged at the bottom of her shirt and it was then that he noticed what she was wearing. He realised that she'd been wearing them all night. She hadn't been playing Stephanie the Slut, the role Austin had forced her to play into since joining them. No, she'd been Stephanie, just Stephanie. She was wearing flared jeans and a fitted shirt...one that he had given her the year before. One he'd given her while they were dating. 

He jerked himself out of his thoughts as he noticed her staring at him, smiling. He returned the gesture and waved before heading out the door. Maybe things really were about to get better, maybe things were about to get a whole lot better.

~x~x~x~x~x~

Lillian jumped as she felt hands placed on her waist. She continued to stare at the stars, trying to ignore the breath against her neck.

"I'm so sorry. We shouldn't have done it. I know that. But...I wanted you so much and I couldn't bear to hear people telling me just to go for it anymore. I needed to know that if I did, I wouldn't get hurt."

"I'd never hurt you, Matt. Even if I didn't feel the same way, I'd never want to..."

"That's just it, if you didn't feel the same way, that would hurt me so much more." Matt frowned and whirled her around. "Wait a minute, what does that mean?"

"What does what mean?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"If you didn't feel the same way..." Lillian closed her eyes and cursed. "Lillian?" She opened her eyes when Matt cupped her face, smiling at him. Matt grinned and leaned towards her, capturing her lips softly.

As she pulled back, Lillian smiled, "Not now, Matt. There's a lot we need to talk about. Besides, Jeff's due to in surgery soon. Go, talk to your brother." She smiled at his reluctance. She knew he was desperate to go to his brother but was afraid to leave her. "I'll be waiting when this is over, Matt. I promise."

~x~x~x~x~x~

"I'm so sorry." She said once more, but Jeff just continued to stare at her. He could hardly think, didn't know what to think. She made a move to stand. She was leaving.

"Don't," Lita looked at him, unsure if he'd actually spoken the whispered word or if she'd simply imagined it. He pulled her closer. "Why? Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because you were my best friend and I was so scared I'd lose you. You're still are my best friend and now I'm terrified that I have."

"You'll never lose me Lita, remember that. I'm here, can't get rid of me that easily."

Lita laughed softly, "Good." She stared into his eyes, almost tempted to close the short distance and lay her forehead against his. Instead, she looked at her hands again, "I lied to you, for so long. I wish I could go back and change it all, but I can't."

"I'm in love with you."

Lita felt her heart jump in her chest as she looked up at him in shock, "Wh, what?"

He smiled, "I said, I'm in love with you. I have been in love with you from the first time you smiled at me. From that day when we found out we were 'rescuing you'. You looked up at me and you smiled. You said, 'Wow, I get to be rescued by two gorgeous guys, aren't I...'"

"...the lucky damsel in distress."

They laughed, "You were so pissed."

"I was fed up of the way all the women were perceived as weak and in need of rescuing." She laughed. "I fell in love with you that day, too."

Jeff frowned, "When?"

"You said, 'Well, if you feel that way, you can rejoice when I drop you on your ass in front of billions of people."

"That made you fall in love with me?"

She laughed, "Yes. I looked into your eyes. I knew you were making fun of me but I didn't care, because I knew you were only teasing."

"Again, that made you fall in love with me?"

"Yes. Because after, you came over to me and made sure I knew you were only joking. You looked at me so intensely that I could hardly breathe. So yes, that made me fall in love with you."

Jeff stared at her and brushed some stray strands of hair behind her ears. She leaned towards him and he brushed her lips with his, that single moment seeming without time. He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss, not caring that she was clutching at his sore back, at that moment, everything was perfect. 

"*Ahem*" They pulled apart and Lita hid her face behind her hair as the Nurse, they now knew as John, smirked at them. Then he frowned, "Don't you go out with his brother?"

They both laughed, "It's a long story," Lita said softly, "A long story."

"Oh, happy ending?" John asked as he moved to Jeff's side.

"I hope so," she said softly, turning to look at Jeff. "I really hope so."

"So do I." They turned as Matt entered the room. He walked slowly to his brother placing a hand on Jeff's shoulder. He gave it a squeeze, "Mom called from the plane, they won't be here before you go under...she wanted me to tell you that everything's gonna be all right. She sends you a hug."

Jeff smiled, "Thanks, man." He pulled Matt into a tight hug, neither brother fighting their tears. "Well," Jeff said as they pulled apart. He turned to Lita and squeezed her hand. "I guess this is it."

"You'd better come out of this bro,"

"I promise."

"You'd better." Lita replied, wiping her cheeks.

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

"That's true," Matt smirked. "I should know, I've tried."

"Yeah, and I've never forgiven you for that."

"Come on, man, we were young."

"You were sixteen."

"Okay, you were young...and annoying."

"Was there a point to this?" Jeff asked turning to Lita. 

She smiled, thankful for these last few minutes of normalcy, "I believe you were telling us how we couldn't get rid of you."

"Oh yeah, it's true...it's damn true."

~x~x~x~x~x~

END OF PART 4

END OF THE FEAR SERIES

~x~x~x~x~x~

This last part's for X-Pac! Because I love X-Pac and I felt so sorry for him at Invasion. He's been with the WWF for so long, he's lovely, he's incredibly talented and everyone was yelling "X-Pac sucks" at him. I was not impressed! ...of course I love anything and anyone that was ever associated with Shawn Michaels (He's still the champ I tell you!), so... ;)

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed. I want to say a BIG thanks to Karen U for her great fics. I've not reviewed any for a while, but I love them all! It was her that actually got me writing WWF so this attempt is all her fault! ;)

Ky  
~x~


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